Intended July 1 Amendment to Canada Temporary Foreign Worker Programme Called Off

In what could eventually prove to be a very important and positive development--from the perspectives of the overseas workers, keen to work in Canada--the nation’s administration has, reportedly, proclaimed that it is freezing the 20% upper limit on the figure of low-wage temporary overseas manpower a firm can take into service in the country. The limit--which was set to head south to 10%--will instead continue to be where it is.

Reportedly, the Canadian administration is presently carrying-out an appraisal of the popular and the widely used Temporary Foreign Worker Programme (TFWP), through which the job-providers/firms in the Maple Leaf Country may act in response to labour famines, via employing globally, but only after the Canadian citizens and permanent residents have received the first decisive chance to submit an application for the different open job vacancies up-for-grabs in the country.

As per the in-office Labour Minister of Canada, MaryAnn Mihychuk, there is a pressing need of overhaul in the contentious Temporary Foreign Worker Programme. As per some reports, her department is likely to make known the plans for further improvements to the scheme sometime later in 2016.

Coming back to the minister, sharing her thoughts on the subject, in a statement, she reportedly said that she thinks this is a rather sensible measure to take as the government diligently works to build-up a better temporary foreign worker strategy, and positively address some of the issues with the scheme that surfaced under the preceding regime.

In the month of June, 2014, the preceding Conservative administration duly executed a phased-in decrease in the temporary foreign employees doing a job in low-wage positions. For the reasons of the scheme, low-wage is suitably described as a wage that is below the provincial/territorial median hourly earnings where the job is situated.

The restructurings also comprised the steps prohibiting the utilization of the scheme for the recruiters/firms, keen to take into service low-wage manpower in the regions of the Maple Leaf Country with high rates of joblessness.

Recruiters/firms--which first started appointing low-wage temporary overseas labor force, prior to the limit became effective--will still be in a position to utilize it for 20% of their manpower. Those, who started utilizing the plan post after that point, or who are signing-up impermanent foreign labor force for the first time, will experience a 10% limit.

The Liberal administration had already postponed the limit on the low-wage temporary foreign manpower for seasonal recruiters/job-providers earlier this year, after recruiters/job-providers in some particular businesses that have seasonal peaks in activity (like agriculture & seafood processing, for instance) reportedly cried-out that the limit would not have a very positive influence on business.